Day 103: Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth

We love Eric Carle here in our house, and this book has to be one of my son's favorites at the moment.  He's been fascinated by sloths since seeing them in Marianne Berkes' Over in the Jungle, and this book gives all kinds of interesting information about these peaceful creatures in a forward by Jane Goodall.  Did you know sloths sleep 15 to 19 hours a day and are so inactive that algae grows on their fur?  Can't say that would be my camouflage of choice, but it works for them!  Eric Carle has created another artistic masterpiece, this time full of colorful images and animals from the rain forest.  The sloth's fellow jungle friends wonder about the quiet creature who hangs upside down in the tree all day and night, and begin to ask him questions:  "Why are you so slow?  Why are you so boring?  Why are you so lazy?"  After listening and thinking for a long time, the sloth finally replies in a fabulously articulate fashion.  In what other children's book can you find such fantastic vocabulary words as lackadaisical, unflappable, languid, stoic, impassive, lethargic, placid, and mellow?   I love the educational elements of Carle's stories, and my son loves finding the rain forest creatures on each page.  Be sure to check out the complete list of rain forest animals that appear in the book on the inside back cover, including a peccary, puma, anaconda, caiman, coati, howler monkey, and more!  My son also loves to quote this book:  whenever I ask him to hurry up to do something, he almost inevitably replies (going as slowly as he can), "I'm going sloooowly, like a sloth."  (It's the only time he doesn't move at top speed!)  Carle created this book to celebrate the beauty of the Amazon rain forest, and Goodall's foreward further calls upon readers to help protect and conserve rain forest habitats and species such as the sloth around the world.  Perhaps most importantly, it reminds us of the importance of slowing down to enjoy our world every once in a while.  If your child loves animals or the colorful work of Eric Carle, add this great book to your library list.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!  

Day 90: A House for Hermit Crab

It was a beautiful day here yesterday, so after breakfast we decided to drop everything we had planned at home for the day and head to the beach.  I don't think there is any place on the planet where I feel more relaxed and rejuvenated than by the ocean.  The salty air and smell of sea roses, the sound of lapping waves, gazing out at the water and wondering what other shores it has touched around the world... It's heavenly.  Fortunately, my children love the beach as much as I do.   My son loves exploring around the rocks, searching for crabs at low tide, and following the tiny hermit crabs as they scuttle about.  Yesterday, he even got to hold several baby jellyfish that were floating around, which he thought was exceptionally cool.  He has been pretending to be sea creatures ever since -- mainly hermit crabs, horseshoe crabs, and stingrays (though just now he seems to have moved on to being different dinosaurs. It's hard to keep up sometimes!)  What better book to feature today, I thought, than Eric Carle's A House for Hermit Crab?  Like so many of his books, this one is informative and fabulous in many ways.  In January, little hermit crab decides that he's grown a bit too big for his shell and it's time to move into a bigger one.  He's a bit hesitant to leave his old home behind as he's always felt so safe there, but in February he finds just the right shell to take its place.  It's a simple shell, though -- a bit too plain for his liking -- so he sets off to decorate it with new friends he meets along the way:  a sea anemone, starfish, coral, sea urchin, and snails, to name a few.  He carries on, making friends, exploring new places, and making his shell his own, until in November, he realizes he has continued to grow and will once again need to move on.  There are so many lessons to be learned from this book -- I just love it!!  Through his masterful storytelling and gorgeous illustrations, Eric Carle manages to teach us about the months of the year, habits and lifestyles of hermit crabs and other sea creatures, and perhaps most importantly, ways to adapt to and embrace change.  Rather than be scared of having to leave his comfortable, safe home behind, hermit crab is excited about the endless possibilities that await him as he moves on; a valuable lesson for all of us, I think.  Be sure to read the introductory information about hermit crabs on the dedication page, as well as the glossary of sea animals featured at the back of the book.   I think of this book every time we pick up little hermit crabs or empty shells, and wonder what creatures might have called those shells home over the years.  Heading to the beach soon?  Pick this wonderful book up before you go.  It's a perfect summer read!

Day 81: Little Cloud

Anyone who has ever gazed up at the clouds and seen different shapes and creatures among them is sure to adore this book.   We just love it!  Like so many wonderful Eric Carle stories, Little Cloud excites the imagination while teaching us a little lesson in the process.  The curious little cloud ventures away from his friends, touching the tops of the houses and trees, then turning into all sorts of shapes -- a sheep, a plane, a shark, trees, a rabbit, a hat, a clown -- before finally joining his friends to do what all clouds are supposed to do... rain!  I love Carle's choice of objects the cloud becomes and its reasons for doing so.  ("Little Cloud changed into an airplane.  Little Cloud often saw airplanes flying through the clouds.")  It's a simple, lovely story that intrigues young minds and is a perfect book to read on a summer day.  After reading it, of course, you'll have to go out and do some cloud gazing yourself!  Be sure to read Carle's letter to the reader on the inside cover, as well.  I always love when authors do this, especially when it provides a bigger sense of why they wrote the story and what they hope the reader takes away from the book.   Happy cloud watching!

Day 72: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Of all of Eric Carle's fabulous titles, this one might be the most famous of all.  What child doesn't absolutely adore the story of the hungry little caterpillar who eats his way through the days of the week?  This story has just about everything you could ask for in a children's book.  It's educational (we learn about the metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to butterfly, the days of the week, and even that eating too much junk food gives you a stomach ache!), is fun, tactile and interactive (with little holes chewed through each piece of food, just perfect for little fingers), and is full of simple, bold, colorful illustrations.  My son can't wait to turn each page to see what the caterpillar eats the next day, anxiously awaiting Saturday and its glorious selection of treats.  My daughter loves staring at the bright pictures and is always sticking her fingers into the little holes.  I also love that the book is conducive to so many other creative activities, from food and science to arts and crafts.  We had to make a caterpillar fruit plate for dessert tonight to ward off the requests for "chocolate cake, an ice cream cone, a lollipop, a slice of salami, and a cupcake!" Carle is a master of engaging little minds and readers of all ages, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar is definitely one of our favorites.  Oh, and if you do not yet own the book and are interesting in buying it, we highly recommend the lap board book edition.  In my opinion, it is much better than the smaller board book version and makes reading a fantastic book even more fun.  Enjoy!

Day 71: From Head to Toe

From the time my son was an infant, he was fascinated by Eric Carle books.  We had received Brown Bear, Brown Bear as a baby shower gift, and given how much he loved it and others in that series, I set out to our local bookstore one day to buy a few more of Carle's wonderful stories.  One of the titles we brought home that day was From Head to Toe, and it has been a favorite ever since.  I especially love this book now because it is one that both of my children (ages 3 1/2 and 11 months) love to read together.   Babies love Carle's bold, simple illustrations, and the repetition of the verses is great for emerging readers, too.  "I am a penguin and I turn my head.  Can you do it?  I can do it!  I am a giraffe and I bend my neck.  Can you do it?  I can do it!"   Both my son and daughter particularly loved the seal page, and it was the first one each of them imitated.  "I am a seal and I clap my hands.  Can you do it?  I can do it!"  I just love watching my little girl happily smiling in delight as she claps her hands along with the story, just as her big brother used to.  Even better is when he reads it with us, waving his arms like a monkey and dancing around to the book while his little sister laughs and encourages him to be even sillier.  Fun, engaging, and interactive, From Head to Toe is another fabulous must-have for any child's library.

Day 70: The Very Lonely Firefly

The beloved Eric Carle turns 82 this Friday, June 25th, so we'd like to dedicate this week's selections to him.  He has authored and illustrated so many fabulous titles that it is really hard to choose which we love best, and given that there are over 60 titles that bear his name, there are still many we have not yet read.  Of course, we've already featured one of our absolute favorites, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? back on Day 7, which was also his very first book.  But today, on this first day of summer, I thought we'd feature a more seasonal favorite, The Very Lonely Firefly.  Sadly, we don't see many fireflies where we live in Massachusetts, but we saw some last weekend while visiting my family in Connecticut and they were beautiful.  As a child, I used to love going out at night and catching them in jars, completely mesmerized by their glow.  What fascinating little creatures!  My children love Carle's classic about the lonely little firefly who is searching for his friends.  He spies many other sources of light in the night -- a candle, a flashlight, a car's headlights -- before finally finding a group of fellow fireflies.  Carle's illustrations are unique, as always, with an interesting blend of colors to create wonderful nighttime scenes.  My son particularly loves the pages with the family car and the fireworks, and obviously the very last page is our absolute favorite of all.  What child doesn't immediately fall in love with those twinkling lights and want to see them again and again?  I love how we can see the lights flashing through on the second to last page, too -- it makes us even more excited to turn the page and get to the end!  I don't particularly care for the dialogue going on within the pictures so sometimes leave that part out, but it can be a fun conversational element for older children.  We received this book as a hand-me-down, and miraculously, those little lights are still going strong.  If you're looking for a great bedtime story to read on a summer night, try The Very Lonely Firefly.  Those little flashing lights are bound to bring a twinkle to your child's eye.

Day 7: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Time to feature a fabulous book for the littlest of readers.  I would be surprised if anyone reading this hasn't heard of this classic story, but it is truly a wonderful book that deserves recognition.  This book is a rather sentimental one for me, as it is one of the very first books that truly engaged and captivated both of my children from the time they were born.  Even when they were just a few weeks old, I felt they truly connected to this story and loved reading it.  There is something magical about Martin's simple, rhythmic phrases and Carle's bold, collage-style images that make this a perfect first book for any child.  My seven month old daughter still loves to read (and chew on) this book, and I can just feel her brain taking it all in as she stares intently at the picture on each page, just my son used to do.  And even though he is now three, my son still loves reading this book with (and especially to) us.  Many thanks to my dear friend Alisa, who gave us this book before my son was born.  It is definitely a family favorite.